Adjustable ice crusher



June 5, 1962 J. R. BAYSTON 3,037,714

ADJUSTABLE ICE CRUSHER Filed 001;. 11, 1960 FIG. .7

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4 1% X aii' John 2. 5a ysion United States atenr 3,037,714 ADJUSTAB E ICE CRUSHER John R. Bayston, 1161 W. Winwood Drive, Lake Forest, Ill. Filed Oct. 11, 1960, Ser. No. 61,928 4 Claims. (Cl. 241190) The present invention relates to ice crushing devices and more specifically to a power-driven ice crushing machine intended and designed to reduce conventional ice cubes to crushed ice of any desired degree of fineness.

It is the general aim of the invention to provide an improved ice crushing machine wherein some of the confiicting considerations heretofore encountered in the designs and construction of devices of this type have been successfully reconciled to produce an extremely efficient ice crushing mechanism, yet of such design that it is both inexpensive to manufacture and simple to assemble.

More specifically, it is among the objects of the invention to provide an ice crushing machine capableof producing the crushed ice product without appreciable risk of contamination from the machine parts (as has been too often known to occur in prior art devices designed for the same general purpose), and by a mechanism of such design that it may be readily dismantled for cleaning as may be required from time to time, and easily reassembled.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an improved and unique crushing mechanism particularly adapted to handling, without jamming, breaking or otherwise damaging the mechanism, very hard, clear, dense ice cubes (the product of certain types of modern ice making machines, as distinguished from the product of conventional freezing trays), so that the usefulness of the present machine will not be limited to operation with the softer and more spongy types of ice cubes more commonly available.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of an ice crushing mechanism of such design and construction that the essential operating parts consist of a multiplicity of structural pieces 'of identically the same physical size and formation, notwithstanding that they serve different functional purposes in the assembly. This is of advantage in more than one respect. For one thing, it results in obvious cost advantages in manufacture. Also, it means that machines of similar design and mode of operation may be produced in any size or capacity desired merely by the provision of appropriately sized housings and mounting means, with the operative portions of the ice cutting mechanism remaining essentially the same.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an ice crushing mechanism of the general type outlined above wherein a rotary ice cutting device is combined with a shiftable or adjustable grade selector in a manner whereby adjustment for fine, medium or coarse ice may be simply and easily accomplished.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of an ice crushing machine designed to convert conventional ice cubes into crushed ice of any desired degree of fineness wherein the mechanism is so designed as to be capable of satisfactory operation at speeds of rotation comparable to the rotation of the armature shafts of commonly available electrical motors. By the accomplishment of this object the mechanism is well suited to direct drive from a conventional motor and may thus be utilized without the necessity of resorting to speed reducers, gear boxes, belt drives or other similar expensive, troublesome and noisy adjuncts.

The foregoing objects are. accomplished according to the present invention by the provision of a unique and simplified, yet improved, ice cutting and crushing mechanism which consists essentially of a single rotary shaft having a multiplicity of ice crushing fingers projecting therefrom; the fingers coacting with a barrier device on one side to block passage of uncrushed cubes, and coacting with a grade selector on its other side. The selector is arranged to be shifted between several available positions in a manner to cause the machine to deliver fine, medium or coarsely crushed ice at the will of the operator.

The manner in which the present invention may be most advantageously employed is illustrated herein by reference to the drawings attached to and forming a part of the present specification, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of an ice crushing machine constructed in accordance with the present teachings, with major portions of the exterior housing and ice chute broken away to show the internal parts;

FIGURE 2 is a detail plan sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 22 of FIGURE 1 and showing the internal arrangement of the ice crushing assembly;

FIGURE 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the operating members employed in the mechanism as an ice cutter, as an ice barrier, and also as a member of the grade selector assembly; and

FIGURE 4 is a similar detail perspective view of one of the spacers employed in the machine.

It is contemplated that an ice making machine according to the present disclosure will be mounted in a housing or frame such as generally designated by the numeral 10 in FIGURES 1 and 2, and it is the usual practice to provide such a housing with an ice chute 11, the interior space within which serves as a supply bin 12 for a limited supply of cubes. As illustrated in the present drawings, the chute 11 is secured to the housing 10 by a plurality of cap screws 13 extending through flanges 14 and into flanges 15 on the frame 10. If desired, the ice 'bin or chamber 12 within the chute 11 may be provided with a cover 16 and with guard bars 17 positioned in the throat portion 18 of the chute to prevent any possibility of injury to the operator by contact with the ice crushing mechanism below the guards.

The ice crushing mechanism forming the essence of the present invention consists of a central rotary power shaft 21 horizontally disposed across the housing 10 and arranged to cooperate with a barrier assembly 61 carried by the shaft 22, and with a grade-selector assembly 51 carried on the shaft 23 parallel therewith on the other side of the housing. The central shaft 21 is preferably mounted directly on the armature shaft 24 of a driving motor 25, as by set screws 26. The driving motor 25 may be mounted in any convenient manner, as by cap screws 27 securing it to the bracket 28. The bracket 28 may obviously be mounted in any convenient manner but for purposes of convenience and illustration has been shown as secured to the removable front plate 29 of the housing 10 by the same cap screws which secure the housing and its front plate in assembled relation.

The central cutter shaft 21 has an enlarged head 31 which extends through a clearance aperture 32 in the front plate and defines a shoulder 33 against which a cutting assembly generally designated 34 is clamped by a lock nut 35. The assembly 34 consists of a series of operating members as illustrated in FIGURE 3 of the drawings, stacked in alternate relation with spacers as shown in FIGURE 4. In practice, each of the operating members consists of a generally rectangular collar 36 having a rectangular opening 37 therein shaped to correspond to the cross-sectional shape of the shafts 21, 22 and 23 (square, as illustrated) with a single projecting finger or tooth 38 extending therefrom. The several fingers ah tached to the collars of the cutting assembly function as its cutting teeth, and the collars are accordingly placed on the square shaft 21 so that the teeth project in angularly different directions, as best illustrated in FIGURES l and 2. The spacers 39 (FIGURE 4) comprise collars with apertures also of such size as to be fitted over the squared portions of the central drive shaft 21, the barrier shaft 22 and selector shaft 23. It is to be noted, however, that the thickness of the spacers is substantially greater than the thickness of the members 36 to provide clearance as hereinafter described.

The central cutting assembly 34 of the device includes a spacer 39 abutting the shoulder 33 on the head portion 31 of the shaft 21 with operating members 36 functioning as cutters stacked alternately with spacers 39 between the head of the shaft and the clamping nut 35, screw threaded to the shaft 21 adjacent its rearward end.

Beyond the nut 35, the rear end of the shaft is provided with a reduced diameter pilot 42, extending through and carried by the central raceway of a ball bearing 43 mounted in an appropriate recess 45 in the back wall 46 of the housing 10. As illustrated, the ball bearing is secured to the shaft by the cap nut 44, and is covered by a protective cap 47 held by machine screws 48.

It will be observed that in the assembly of the parts as shown, the several members 36 which function as cutters are arranged in different angular positions with respect to the squared shaft 21 on which they are mounted, so that the projecting fingers or teeth carried by each of these members extends in a different direction.

The cutter assembly described above cooperates with a grade-selector assembly generally designated 51 which also consists of a plurality of the operating members 36, but these are on the selector shaft 23 heretofore described, with each of the teeth or fingers in the same plane and in the parallel arrangement illustrated in FIGURES l and 2. Spacers 39 are provided between each of the members 36 and the entire assembly 51 is clamped between the nuts 52 and 53. The shaft 23 has bearing portions 54 and 55 j'ournaled in the front wall 29 and rear wall 46. The selector assembly 51 of the mechanism thus comprises a series of alternate cutting teeth and spacers secured to its shaft, with the cutters alternately positioned with respect to the spacers as heretofore described, but it is to be noted that the cutters and spacers are alternately arranged with respect to those of the central shaft, so that the fingers or teeth of the selector assembly 51 intermesh between the teeth of the cutter assembly 34 with adequate clearance due to the thickness of the spacers.

The forward end of the selector shaft 23 is preferably provided with a hand lever 57 having a knob by which it may be moved back and forth between several possible positions of adjustment, with a spring-loaded detent 58 arranged to seat in any one of a series of recesses 59 in order to hold the lever 57 and the parts controlled thereby in position to effect production of crushed ice of fine, medium or coarse grade.

As previously mentioned, the mechanism also includes a barrier assembly 61 to prevent uncrushed ice cubes from passing through the machine. This comprises a series of operating members 36 and spacers 39, alternately stacked upon each other and secured to the shaft 22 between paired lock nuts 62 and 63. The projecting fingers 38 of these members are aligned in the same plane and offset to project into meshing engagement with the spacers and cutters of the central shaft. Here again it is to be noted that, since the spacers are considerably wider than the cutting teeth or fingers, the teeth of the cutter assembly may pass between the projecting fingers of the barrier assembly without interference.

During the operation of the device, the barrier assembly 61 comprising the shaft 22 and the several members mounted thereon remains in fixed position at all times, with the several fingers extending from the shaft spaced apart in complementary offset relationship with the rotary teeth of the cutting assembly, so that the teeth of the cutter may freely move upwardly between the fingers of the barrier assembly. The barrier assembly thus functions merely to prevent uncrushed ice from flowing past the left side of the central shaft; and the ice cutting operation takes place between the central shaft 21 and the shaft 23, with the ice cubes being engaged by the teeth 38 of the cutting assembly and crushed as the teeth pass between the corresponding teeth on the selector shaft 23. The fineness or coarseness of the product of the machine may be varied within the desired limits by moving the selector lever 57 to any one of several detent recesses 59, causing corresponding movement of the cutting teeth of the selector assembly between the dotted line positions illustrated in FIGURE 1.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the teachings of the present invention provide important improvements in ice crushing machines in several respects, but particularly in that the present invention provides for a machine which is at once simplified and efficient, with its working mechanism consisting primarily of parts which are exact duplicates of each other, and it follows that the machine can be commercially manufactured with minimum expense and assembled without fear of improper placement of the coacting parts. The arrangement is such that the adjustment of the parts for fine, coarse or medium grade ice may be quickly, easily and simply accomplished and the entire mechanism is such that it may be easily and quickly disassembled for cleaning, inspection or repair.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In an ice making machine including a housing having an ice delivery chute extending thereto, an ice crushing mechanism consisting of a plurality of generally horizontal, parallel operating shafts in spaced relationship with each other and including a power shaft journaled for rotary movement between a pair of auxiliary shafts comprising a barrier shaft and a selector shaft on opposite sides of the aforesaid power shaft, with at least one of the aforesaid auxiliary shafts adjustable as to angular position; each of the aforesaid shafts carrying a plurality of substantially identical operating members, each comprising a collar surrounding one of the shafts and at least one finger extending outwardly therefrom; with spacers on each of the shafts in alternate stacked relation between the individual operating members and of substantially greater thickness than the thickness of the collars of the operating members whereby the adjacent fingers projecting from each of the shafts are spaced sufficiently widely to permit free movement of similar fingers therebetween, with the power shaft having its several fingers projecting in a plurality of directions from the shaft axis and with the fingers of the several operating members on both the barrier shaft and selector shaft disposed in a common zone with respect to each other and longitudinally offset along their shafts to lie in positions alternately disposed and in meshing registry with respect to the paths of movement of the fingers carried by the power shaft.

2. In an ice making machine including a housing having an ice delivery chute extending thereto, an ice crushing mechanism consisting of a plurality of generally horizontal, parallel operating shafts in spaced relationship with each other and including a power shaft journaled for rotary movement between a pair of auxiliary shafts comprising a barrier shaft and a selector shaft on opposite sides of the aforesaid power shaft, with at least one of the aforesaid auxiliary shafts adjustable as to angular position; each of the aforesaid shafts carrying a plurality of substantially identical operating members, each comprising a collar surrounding one of the shafts and at least one finger extending outwardly therefrom; with the adjacent fingers projecting from each of the shafts spaced sufiiciently widely to permit free movement of similar fingers therebetween, with the power shaft having its several fingers projecting in a plurality of directions from the shaft axis and with the fingers of the several operating members on both the barrier shaft and selector shaft disposed in a common Zone with respect to each other and longitudinally offset along their shafts to lie in positions alternately disposed and in meshing registry with respect to the paths of movement of the fingers carried by the power shaft.

3. In an ice making machine including a housing having an ice delivery chute extending thereto, an ice crushing mechanism consisting of a plurality of parallel operating shafts in spaced relationship with each other and including a power shaft journaled for rotary movement and coacting with a pair of auxiliary shafts comprising a barrier shaft and a selector shaft; each of the aforesaid shafts carrying a plurality of substantially identical operating members, each comprising a collar surrounding one of the shafts and at least one finger extending outwardly therefrom; with spacers on each of the shafts in alternate stacked relation between the individual operating members and of substantially greater thickness than the thickness of the collars of the operating members whereby the adjacent fingers projecting from each of the shafts are spaced sufficiently widely to permit free movement of similar fingers therebetween, with the power shaft having its several fingers projecting in a plurality of directions from the shaft axis and longitudinally offset 6 along their shaft to be in meshing registry with respect to the fingers carried by the other shafts.

4. In an ice making machine including a housing having an ice delivery chute extending thereto, an ice crushing mechanism consisting of a plurality of parallel operating shafts in spaced relationship with each other and including a power shaft journaled for rotary movement and coacting with a pair of auxiliary shafts comprising a barrier shaft and a selector shaft; each of the aforesaid shafts carrying a plurality of substantially identical operating members, each comprising a collar surrounding one of the shafts and at least one finger extending outwardly therefrom; with the adjacent fingers projecting from each of the shafts spaced suificiently widely to permit free movement of similar fingers therebetween, with the power shaft having its several fingers projecting in a plurality of directions from the shaft axis and longitudinally offset along their shaft to be in meshing registry with respect to the fingers carried by the other shafts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,071,730 Coventry Feb. 23, 1937 2,213,166 Majewski Aug. 27, 1940 2,297,604 Bateman Sept. 29, 1942 2,865,571 Ferdon Dec. 23, 1958 

